Slow-Braised Lamb Shoulder

Slow-Braised Lamb Shoulder

4h Serves 6 Comfort

Time transforms toughness into tenderness. This is not a recipe for weeknights. This is a Sunday project. The kind where you put the lamb in the oven at midday and forget about it while the house fills with the scent of rosemary and slow-cooking meat.

Lamb shoulder is a working muscle. Dense. Sinewy. Cheap compared to leg or rack. But give it four hours at low heat and it rewards patience. The collagen breaks down. The fat renders. The meat becomes so tender it falls apart when you look at it.

This dish owes nothing to fashion. It's ancient cooking — meat, heat, time. The vegetables collapse into the braising liquid and become a sauce. Serve it with something to soak up that liquid. Polenta. Mashed potato. Crusty bread. The lamb is the star. Everything else is there to catch what it gives.

Ingredients

  • 2kg lamb shoulder, bone in
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2 brown onions, roughly chopped
  • 3 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 2 celery stalks, cut into chunks
  • 400ml red wine
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml beef or lamb stock
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 60ml olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Remove lamb from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Pat dry with paper towel. Cut small incisions across the surface and insert garlic slices. Season generously with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-based casserole dish over high heat. Sear lamb on all sides until deeply browned — about 8 minutes total. Remove and set aside.
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions, carrots, and celery to the same pot. Cook for 6-7 minutes until softened and beginning to colour. The vegetables should pick up the browned bits from the lamb.
  4. Pour in red wine. Let it bubble and reduce by half — about 5 minutes. This concentrates the flavour and cooks off the raw alcohol.
  5. Add tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, and 2 sprigs of rosemary. Stir to combine. Return lamb to the pot. The liquid should come halfway up the meat. Add more stock if needed.
  6. Cover with a tight-fitting lid or aluminium foil. Transfer to the oven. Braise for 3.5-4 hours until the meat is falling-apart tender. Check after 2 hours and baste with the liquid.
  7. Remove lamb from pot and rest on a board, covered loosely with foil. Skim excess fat from the braising liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning.
  8. For a thicker sauce, strain the liquid through a sieve, pressing on the vegetables to extract flavour. Discard solids. Return liquid to the pot and simmer until reduced to desired consistency.
  9. Shred the lamb with two forks. Discard the bone. Return meat to the sauce. Strip leaves from remaining rosemary sprigs and scatter over. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Nutrient Per Serving
Energy 485 kcal
Protein 42g
Carbohydrates 12g
Fat 28g
Saturated Fat 11g
Fibre 3g
Sodium 420mg

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Comments

James Mitchell
8 February 2026

Made this for family Sunday lunch. Absolutely perfect. The meat was so tender it melted. I reduced the sauce down quite a bit more than the recipe suggests — almost to a glaze — and it was incredible. Served with creamy polenta. Will make this again and again.

Elena Rodriguez
3 February 2026

Four hours seems long but it's completely hands-off. I did the searing and vegetable stage the night before, then refrigerated it. Next day I just put it in the oven. The flavour was even better after sitting overnight. Used a full bottle of red wine instead of 400ml. No regrets.

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